Q: iPhone SMS/iMessage search doesn't take me to specific message

Did anyone find a solution for this yet? I can't find anywhere else on the internet where this problem is addressed

I found an SMS extractor for Mac that transfers all your SMS to the app that you can easily search. My Mac crashed since so I can't tell you the Mac app exactly just found it on google.

Any other fixes? The language fix didn't work.

Hi, the only way this feature works is if ure searching for a message that is on the current page youre on... So basically if the iphone has to search past the "load more messages" screen it wont work, but say u search for something thats on the current page ure on it will work

This issue frustrates me very much. I am currently attempting to scroll to the top of this text message thread and the spotlight search is so inconsistent. I notice that sometimes I will seach for a specific message and rarely it will actually take me to the text I am looking for, but every other time (most times) it just takes me to the latest message. What I think the next update should be for the iPhone spotlight search is a way to look up texts by date. I think it would make things much simpler if you should spotlight search a certain date that you remember sending a message and have it take you back to that day so you can scroll freely throughout that time period of text messages. This spotlight feature can be very helpful, but it mostly is just extremely frustrating and useless. Hopefully the next update for iPhone will have something to do with the spotlight search.

I have this same problem and hate that you can't be brought to that exact text on iphone 5c... the only way i can search and find a specific text is using "Messages" app on my Macbook. i can search for addresses my buddies have given me years ago, if all i remember was the street name or beginning numbers. but it only works if the person i was talking to had an iphone. Apple should indeed rectify this!

Almost a year and a half later and there's still no solution.....

It's October 2014...and you still can't go to the direct text message that you locate when doing a spotlight search.

In my iPhone 5S after update to 8.0 - SMS search via Spotlight and in SMS App works fine!!! Before upgrade i had the same problem. Unfortunately after upgrade to 8.0.2 SMS Search is STOP WORKING! Spotlight too! Apple do you know that?

I am running iOS 8.0.2 on my iPod touch 5G, and this is still an issue. It really doesn't make any sense. If you were to search messages on your laptop in Facebook it would jump to the message you click on. I don't understand how this hasn't been fixed yet. Furthermore, the search feature through iMessages and through spotlight are not looking at the entire thread of messages. I can search for keywords that I know are in the thread, but they don't show up in the search results. It seems the search only go so far back. This seems like a relatively easy issue to fix, yet it continues to be overlooked.

You are dead right. When you typed in the search something that was said before and you selected the suggested search result it jumped to that message and even highlighted it as well.

So if you go to settings - general - reset - reset all settings it will fix the issue of searching in SMS and taking you directly to the text you are looking for. I just finished with Apple Chat. However, it will do exactly what it says and erase all your settings. He said it would just reset my wi-fi passwords but I've had to redo all touch ID, wi-fi, bluetooth, and so on. For me it was worth it because I use this feature a ton. But a pain anyway! Hope this helps.

Didn't work for me.  And it had the added pain of blowing away my settings... I ended up restoring my phone (I did a backup first).

But nope, reset all settings DIDN'T fix the issue of jumping to a particular message.  It went right to the end, like it always did and probably always will.

Not sure what this would have to do with resetting settings anyway.

sberman wrote:

 

I personally would prefer to be sent to the latest message in the conversation rather than the one with the specific content I searched for.

Yeah, and when I go to Burger King I prefer it when they give me the burger I ordered three weeks ago rather than the specific burger I ordered today.

I agree. I can't umderstand why you would search for something, and want to be taken somewhere else. Ridiculous. And WHY did this feature disappear with 8.0.2. The functionality DID exist for a very brief and wonderful moment when iOS 8 launched. PLEASE APPLE: Bring it back/fix it!!